Pitchfork named it one of the Best Music Books of 2019 #1 Book of the Year, UNCUT #1 Book of the Year, ROUGH TRADE A Book of the Year, MOJO Joy Division emerged in the mid-70s at the start of a two-decades long Manchester scene that was to become...

Lawrence Gellert has long been a mysterious figure in American folk and blues studies, gaining prominence in the left-wing folk revival of the 1930s for his fieldwork in the U.S. South. A "lean, straggly-haired New Yorker," as Time magazine called him,...

Brilliant, practical, and humorous conversations with one of the twentieth-century’s greatest musicologists on art, culture, and the physical pain of playing a difficult passage until one attains its rewards.Throughout his life, Charles Rosen combined...

More than to any other musician, the credit for the birth of modern jazz belongs to Charles "Yardbird" Parker--known to his friends and fans simply as "Bird."Parker's virtuoso technique, melodic genius, and inspired improvisations helped launch a whole...

A wide-ranging look at the interplay of opera and political ideas through the centuriesThe Politics of Opera takes readers on a fascinating journey into the entwined development of opera and politics, from the Renaissance through the turn of the...

An extraordinary collection of revealing, personal interviews with fourteen jazz music legends During his nearly forty years as a music journalist, Ralph J. Gleason recorded many in-depth interviews with some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time...

An invaluable guide for lovers of classical music designed to enhance their enjoyment of the core orchestral repertoire from 1700 to 1950 Robert Philip, scholar, broadcaster, and musician, has compiled an essential handbook for lovers of classical...

A revelatory new take on the long-held belief that America has dominated world culture America's global cultural impact is largely seen as one-sided, with critics claiming that it has undermined other countries' languages and traditions. But contrary...

The fascinating personal story of one of the most celebrated talents in today’s music sceneThe star of the Metropolitan Opera's recent revival of Dvorak's Rusalka, soprano Renée Fleming brings a consummately beautiful voice, striking interpretive...

Building on the long-established success of Ethan Mordden's Opera Anecdotes, The New Book Of Opera Anecdotes continues where the original left off, bringing into view the new corps of major singers that arose after the first book's publication in 1985 --...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Riveting, elegant, humorous—this "picaresque voyage through Patti Smith’s dreams and life, blending fiction and reality, conjured characters and actual ones” (The New York Times) is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our...

Rock and roll has traditionally been a boys' game. It has forced female artists to work twice as hard, usually for half the recognition -- but without their contributions, American music would be radically impoverished. Called "a kind of female Cameron...

A Pulitzer Prize–winning music critic presents an unprecedented collection of the writings of the great composer-critic and father of American classical music, Virgil ThomsonFollowing on the critically acclaimed edition of Virgil Thomson’s collected...

For readers of Mozart in the Jungle and Year of Wonder, a new history of and guide to classical music.Paul Morley made his name as a journalist covering the rock and pop of the 1970s and 1980s. But as his career progressed, he found himself drawn toward...

"Nearly 50 years’ worth of critical efforts to solve Mitchell’s mysteries have now been rounded up in Barney Hoskyns’s Joni: The Anthology....what comes through most consistently is a possessive impulse, a desire to really know an artist whose fierce...

With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the...

1983 W.W. Norton trade paperback, Oliver Neighbour, Paul Griffiths, George Perle. Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg comprise what is known as the 'Second Viennese School.' Their early 20th-century atonal and 12-tone composition marked the...

Tune in to how music really works Whether you’re a student, a performer, or simply a fan, this book makes music theory easy, providing you with a friendly guide to the concepts, artistry, and technical mastery that underlie the production of great music...

Music listeners today can effortlessly flip from K-pop to Ravi Shankar to Amadou & Mariam with a few quick clicks of a mouse. While contemporary globalized musical culture has become ubiquitous and unremarkable, its fascinating origins long predate the...

"After the blast, Kurt Cobain's body slumped. Next to his corpse lay a piece of paper with his last words. At the time the bullet seared his head, Cobain was a rock star, his grizzled face graced the covers of slick music industry magazines, his songs...